So as I mentioned before on Friday 26th March Alexa (an old Fitch colleague) arrived from the UK on a 2 week trip to Sydney and to welcome her we all decided to go out drinking in an attempt to help her with the jet lag! It was a great night out with numerous bars and even more drinks and by the end of the night our group had expanded to about 10, consisting mostly of Nicks friends who we met along the way, and after the customary 3am kebab we all went our separate ways and headed home in a cab! Saturday morning I was abit tender but knew that another mate of mine, Mike, was travelling up for the weekend so I got myself in order and met him in Sydney at 3pm. Both Lee and Nick declined to join as they just couldnt face anymore drink! It was great to see Mike and have a good catch up as we hadnt seen each other in months as Mike used to live in the UK but moved home with is wife late last year. By 7pm we made our way to 1 of Mike's favourite restaurants, a German place called "UNA's", and as we knew we had a long night ahead we had 2 huge meals washed down with a couple of German beers. Due to Mike wearing thongs (dont worry, its what Ozzies call flip flops) we couldnt get in many bars in the evening, but we got into 1 half decent place and decided to see the night out there. As the evening went on we both moved away from beer and onto Mojito's, and while holding a $50 note in my hand ready to order 2 more I was accidentally bumped into by a guy pretty hard. He did apologise but the damage was done...............i'd dropped the $50 (about 30 quid) over the bar and there was no sign of it!!!! The bar staff near by tried to help me find it when I explained what had happened but it never reappeared..............so as it was still my round I ordered the Mojito's and when you include the $50 i'd just dropped, the round came to $83!!!!! Very painful, and something I think i've only just got over. The night ended with Mike walking home 1 way and I headed to the harbour to get the last ferry home. Despite the $50 incident it was a great night, so CHEERS MIKE! Hopefully see you again soon!
Sunday was a VERY lazy day due to the previous 2 nights and luckily enough it was a grand prix weekend, so all 3 of us laid on the sofa's watching a great Melbourne grand prix.
When we met with Alexa on Friday she mentioned that she fancied doing the 5km walk from Bondi to Coogee beach on Monday so Me and Lee decided to join her and we got the bus from Circular Quay (the main city harbour transport hub in Sydney) to Bondi and started the walk at about 11. The weather wasnt great but it was still warm and probably the best kind of weather for a long walk along the coast rather than blaring sun. The views along the way were great and the walk goes past a number of other bays, beaches, a huge cemetery and also a coast line bowls club which im sure my nan and grandad would LOVE (see below)!!
With a few pit stops along the way the walk took around 4 hours and once we reached Coogee, which is a really nice place, we jumped on a bus back to Circular Quay had a drink with Alexa and then said our goodbyes as we would be heading to Melbourne on Wednesday and Alexa would have headed home by the time we got back. Tuesday was a day spent cleaning the Clontarf house ready for us leaving that night and moving into Nick's apartment in Prymont, near Darling Harbour, for the foreseeable future. Wednesday was a quiet day as we (Me, Lee, Nick and Kerryn) were flying to Melbourne that evening, and even though it was touch and go with missing the flight due to traffic, we made it and landed in Melbourne at around 7pm. After a cab ride to Kerryn's parents place to pick up a car for the weekend we then drove to Nick's parents place and stayed the night. As we werent heading off camping until Friday we spent Thursday in Melbourne seeing a few of the sites but mainly spending a nice hot afternoon in a great beer garden (the size of a park) in the city! The days drink helped us sleep well and get ready for an early start the next day. As we'd packed the car the day before we all woke at 6am and were on our way by 7. It was about a 4 hour drive in a pretty cramped car as Nick's sister had joined us for the trip to Apollo Bay but we all dozed most of the way. Melbourne weather is supposed to be very different to Sydney weather, and it was. Even though still warm it was very overcast, and as it was on the coast the cool breeze did make it nippy at times. When we arrived most of the other campers (Kerryn's friends) were setting up and after introductions we did the same. The rest of the day was very chilled but when the evening came the BBQ and beer came out and it was a raucous but hilarious night. Kerryn's girlfriends are great and there fellas even better, even with the usual pommie insults being thrown about! After a nice lie in on Saturday, we spent the afternoon in the local pub betting on the horse races as 1 of the lads knew his stuff, and by the last race the syndicate total meant we'd all get our money back. However, we decided to put the lot on 1 horse in the last race..................and lost (of course), but it was great fun and for a $20 whip it kept us entertained all day. We had another BBQ when we got back but due to the over indulgence the night before not many people stayed up drinking other than the hardcore. As Sunday was a much better day weather wise me, Lee, Nick and Kerryn went for a drive along the great ocean road to see the 12 Apostles, a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Cambell National Park by the great ocean road. However, due to erosion, there are only 7 left now, so glad I got to see them before it was too late. Its an impressive site and well worth the trip.
After seeing the Apostles we headed to the nearby Great Otway National Park so we could go on the Otway fly tree top walk which is a 600 metre long 25 metre high elevated tree top walk through the forest. Its another impressive site and feels alot safer than you expect except for the spiral stair tower which is 45 metres up and sways alot!!
The walk took about an hour and when we were done we headed back and had ANOTHER BBQ (not that im complaining) and again had a few drinks before bed. Also the clocks went back over night so this now means that there is only 9 hours difference between here and the UK.We all woke on Monday morning and started to dismantle the tents until Nicks sister Claire received a call from her mum saying had we missed our flight??? This didnt make sense as we were all sure the flight was on Tuesday the 6th at 6am rather than Monday the 5th at 6am. However, after checking we found out that unfortunately the flights were booked incorrectly and we had missed the flight, but instead of letting that get us down we finished packing up and took a road trip for the day through the coastal towns of Lorne and then......TORQUAY!! It has nothing on our our one tho (cough)! After the pit stops we headed home to Nicks parents and stayed there again and booked flights for the next day at 7pm.
As Kerryn is from Melbourne she was staying for the rest of the week so me, Lee and Nick had a walkabout in Melbourne in the day and then made our way to the airport for our flight back to Syydney. Melbourne' is a great town and totally different to Sydney and it definitely reminds me more of London. Hopefully i'll get a chance to spend a decent bit of time there in the future but all 3 of us are heading back on the 17th April foe the night for one of Lee's mates birthdays, so im looking forward to seeing what the nightlife is like. Luckily enough we were at the airport early and were bumped up a flight so got home earlier than planned, but we all hit the sack as soon as we got in as the long weekend had finally taken its toll!
So far this week Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have turned out to be pretty lazy days spent on the net looking/applying for jobs. I visited 1 recruitment company which was positive and have a lot of leads to follow up so im sure a job isnt far away. However, the call regarding the job I mentioned in my previous post still havent called so I have sent a chase e-mail and will hopefully get some news today. Fingers crossed. Also we've been making the most of the chilled time by getting out for runs which has felt good as it seems like I havent done anything but eat and drink for months!! Tonight I think will be a quiet night, either watching the AFL game (Nicks team is playing) or going to the pics as tomorrow we are off to the races for a 10am start and then on to a livel AFL match (Sydney Swans Vs Richmond Tigers) so its definitely a "Calm before the Storm" evening tonight! I'll let you know how we get on ASAP.
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